Bakugan Battle Brawlers
This article is under construction. is a Japanese anime television series produced by TMS Entertainment and Japan Vistec under the direction of Mitsuo Hashimoto. The story centers on the lives of creatures called Bakugan and the battle brawlers who possess them. Consisting of fifty-one episodes, ''Bakugan Battle Brawlers debuted in Japan on TV Tokyo in 2007. Nelvana Limited produced the English language version and premiered the series on the Canadian network Teletoon later the same year, but with 52 episodes. In February 2008, it was put on Cartoon Network, the consistent schedule now being weekdays at 4:30pm. In conjunction with the anime series, Sega Toys and Spin Master released a strategic game, called Bakugan, using metal cards and magnetic spring-loaded miniature figures. Plot Dan Kuso's life changed one day when random cards fell out of the sky, where he and his friend Shun invented a game with called Bakugan. Together with his friends Runo, Marucho, Julie, Shun, and Alice, the group Bakugan Battle Brawlers is formed and its members are accidentally dragged into fighting for the fate of Vestroia (the Bakugan's home dimension) against Masquerade, Hal-G, and the Bakugan Naga. It is the story of a dimension called Vestroia which loses its natural balance and merges with the human world. The creatures of this place are called Bakugan. One of the evil Bakugan called Naga was tempted and decided to take the Silent Core. Naga was also accompanied by a human called Michael in his task. So Dan and his friends decided to bring back balance by destroying Naga, as he has the Silent Core and seeks the Infinity Core. Characters Brawlers Battle Brawlers * Daniel "Dan" Kuso (voiced by Yu Kobayashi): Dan is a boy who loves playing Bakugan and gets frustrated easily. His greatest ambition is to be the number one battle brawler in the world. Dan is a Pyrus battler, and his Guardian Bakugan is a Pyrus-attribute Dragonoid (nicknamed Drago)(voiced by Keiji Fujiwara). His Drago loves Wavern/Wayvern, who holds the Infinity Core within her. Dan and Runo often argue with each other; Dan is in love with Runo but doesn't confess until the end of the series, when they are seen on a date together. * Runo Misaki (voiced by Eri Sendai): Runo is a tomboy who loves playing Bakugan with people that have skills to show off. Runo is a Haos battler. Her Guardian Bakugan is a Haos-attribute Tigrerra (voiced by Atsushi One), who is very obedient to her and powerful in battle. Runo hates when people think that they can beat her just because she is a girl. She helps her parents run their family business. When Alice comes to visit, she helps Runo's family with their restaurant, which leads to Runo becoming jealous as boys came just to see her. She is Dan's best friend, and has a crush on him. At the end of the series she and Dan are seen on a movie date. * Marucho Marukura (voiced by Ryo Hirohashi): He is a extremely rich boy who is very generous and intelligent, a bit like a walking encyclopedia. He loves to play Bakugan and he also likes to work on strategies. He used to be very obedient to his parents just because he wanted to please them, but that changed when he met the Brawlers. He now has no regrets for the past, realizing that he only wanted to make his parents happy. He is an Aquos battler. Marucho is an Aquos battler, and his Guardian Bakugan is an Aquos-attribute Preyas and a Haos Angelo/Pyrus Diablo Preyas(showing up later in the series). Preyas was sent to the Doom Dimension in Marucho's battle with Klaus Von Hertzon. Later Klaus shows up with Preyas. Dan and Runo find a way to get Preyas back through defeating him in battle. Preyas evolves into a two-sided Bakugan called Preyas Angelo (Haos) and Preyas Diablo (Pyrus). Unlike the other Bakugan however, Preyas multiplies when he evolves, so Marucho got to keep the old Preyas. Preyas also has a move called "Change of Attribute" with that he can take advantage of the opponent's gate card. * Julie Makimoto (voiced by Risa Mizuno): Julie is a girl who tries to stay happy even when the worst has happened (for example, when Billy ended up under the control of Masquerade); her acting happy after something bad happened is generally just to hide up her true feelings. Julie forgets things easily, proving that she is a little scatterbrained at times. Julie is a Subterra battler, whose Guardian Bakugan is a Subterra-attribute Gorem. At the beginning of the series, she is shown to have a little crush on Dan (which led to some arguments with a jealous Runo), but later, accepts that Dan and Runo are going out. At the end, she and Billy go on their first date. Julie has a sister named Daisy who has bested her in everything since she was a child. * Shun Kazami (voiced by Chihiro Suzuki): Shun is a boy who is the former first ranked Bakugan Brawler who later moves down to sixth position. He is a master of bakugan, and is also Dan's childhood friend. Shun is a loner, a boy of very few words, yet is willing to help his friends at every turn almost. Shun is a Ventus battler. His Guardian Bakugan is a Ventus-attribute Skyress (voiced by Chiharu Suzuka) whom Shun received from his comatose mother in the hospital. He approaches Bakugan like a ninja. He lives with his grandfather (who used to be a famous ninja warrior) who once expected Shun to follow in his footsteps instead of playing Bakugan. Shun once leaves the brawlers when Dan says they don't need him. But after brawling Komba, Dan appears and asks for forgivness which Shun accepts. * Alice Gehabich (voiced by Mamiko Noto): She is a girl from Moscow. She sometimes plays Bakugan because she has the evil darkus in her control, but knows almost everything about it. Michael Gehabich is her grandfather, but after learning that her grandfather became Hal-G and works with Naga, she constantly worried about him. Alice usually just gives advice to the brawlers, instead of battling. Alice and Marucho are the 2 brawlers who mostly use strategy. However, unlike Marucho, Alice gives her strategies to the brawlers. During the middle of Season 1 she left the Brawlers after finding out that she was Masquerade out of intense guilt over what she did as him, but later returns as Masquerade in time to save Dan and Drago. Once she saves them Masquerade permanently leaves her body (which Alice at first resents because she believed that she needs him), but leaves Alpha Hydranoid for her to control, although her secret Bakugan is Darkus, which she hardly uses because of their evil nature. * Joe Brown (voiced by Soichiro Hoshi): Also known as Webmaster Joe. He lived in a hospital. The Brawlers used to think he was working for Masquerade, but he actually sent a message to the Brawlers to warn them that Masquerade was plotting against them. When he met Dan, he said he would only tell him if he was working for Masquerade if Dan beat him in a battle. In the middle of the battle he fainted. When he woke up they asked him to be one of the Brawlers. He gladly accepted. Sometime after he moved to the Brawlers neighborhood, he found Wavern who had the Infinity Core inside her. Wavern is a White One, meaning she has no attribute, but her abilities in battle are considered Haos. Wavern is Joe's guardian Bakugan. It is also revealed that Wavern is Naga's younger twin sister. Joe is the first person to beat Masquerade at Bakugan with his new Bakugan Wavern. Antagonist * Masquerade (voiced by Soichiro Hoshi): He used to be the first-ranked Bakugan player before he left Alice's body. His goal is to send all Bakugan to the Doom Dimension with his Doom Card, so he can evolve his Hydranoid and have the ultimate Bakugan. He is a Darkus battler. He is revealed to be Alice in episode 38 and his origin is revealed in episode 39. Masquerade came to life when negative energy changed Alice (who doesn't know she is Masquerade or what happens when she becomes him). Darkus Hydranoid is Masquerade's guardian Bakugan. He battles with Dan in episode 38 and loses. He is actually Alice, but Masquerade disappears from her body (although at first, Alice doesn't want him to leave). Secondary characters * Billy Gilbert: Julie's childhood friend and 10th Ranked Bakugan Player. He defeated Julie when they first battled, but lost in a rematch, and lost 9 more times when he was under the control of Masquerade.Once while batteling under Masquerade's rule Billy almost sends both Gorem and Julie to the doom dimension. He is shown to like Julie in episode 47, "Here's mud in your eye" or in the Japanese version, "Good night baby". At the end of the series Julie asks him if he would like to go on a date some time, and he agreed. Also, at the end of episode 47 Julie makes it known that the two are boyfriend and girlfriend. It is assumed that they are still going out. * Klaus Von Hertzon: He was once the second ranked Bakugan player, but later moves down to rank 4 after being defeated by Masquerade. He is an Aquos battler and his guardian Bakugan is Aquos Sirenoid. He sent Marucho's Aquos Preyas into the Doom Dimension. He somewhat has a crush on Alice. * Chan Lee: The third rank brawler that appeared in episode 14, and was recruited by Masquerade. She uses Pyrus attribute Bakugan and her guardian Bakugan is Pyrus Fourtress. Dan Kuso beat her on episode 16. Pyrus Fourtress gets sent to the Doom Dimension in Episode 26. She is reunited with him sometime around episodes 32 and 36. She has a crush on Joe and at the end of the second series when Dan is on his date with Runo, she and Joe can be seen together in the background.at the end she and Joe are going out. In episode 49 Chan rescues Joe from Hal-G using her martial arts moves. She is voiced by Candi Milo * Komba O'Charlie: The 5th Ranked Bakugan player and Julie's neighbor. He uses Ventus attribute Bakugan, Harpus. He used to be rather selfish and refused to accept his first defeat from Shun and challenges him again, although he lost. He was ranked fifth best Bakugan player until his defeat in episode 26 and the loss of Harpus, which was Masquerade's doing. * Julio Santana: The 4th ranked Bakugan player and self-proclaimed master of Haos-attribute bakugan. His Guardian Bakugan is Haos Tentaclear. Tentaclear does not talk but is strong in battle. * Hal-G: The main antagonist in the first Season. He helps Naga achieve his goals by Naga being his Guardian Bakugan. Media Anime The fifty-two episode anime television series was produced by TMS Entertainment and Japan Vistec under the direction of Mitsuo Hashimoto in 2007. Bakugan Battle Brawlers made its debut in Japan on TV Tokyo on April 5, 2007 and was rebroadcast six days later on BS Japan. Nelvana Enterprises produced the English language version and premiered the series on the Canadian network Teletoon on July 2007 and then on Cartoon Network on February 24, 2008."Bakugan Battle Brawlers". Anime News Network. Retrieved on 2008-11-17. Theme songs ; Opening * by Psychic Lover (1-30) * by Psychic Lover (31-) ; Ending * Air Drive by Elephant Girl * by Za Bon When the show adapted into English, the only changes were made are changing all the background music and a westernized theme. New Vestroia The new season of 26 new episodes entitled Bakugan: New Vestroia. Game A strategic game, called Bakugan, was developed by Sega Toys and Spin Master and released in conjunction with the anime series. The game uses metal cards and magnetic spring-loaded miniature figures, representing the Bakugan. The objective of the game is to capture three of the opponent's Gate cards (3 battles). Battle is engaged when rolled Bakugan magnetically pop open on the same gate card. G-Power from the Bakugan, Ability cards (at player's option), and Gate card are summed to determine the battle's winner. Popularity in the United States through the Summer 2007 and 2008 led to Toys "R" Us hosting tournaments across its stores in Canada and the United States. Toys/Electronics In February 2009 Digital Blue announced a new line of Bakugan branded electronics for the 6-11 age group. Products include branded digital cameras, alarm clocks and other electronics. The line is expected in retail spring 2009. Also, it was announced that a bakugan video game will be released in Fall 2009. Unlike Pokemon, it will be for various systems. It will be on PS3, PS2, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, and PSP. Terminology ; : * A card game using cards and balls called Bakugan (2). See Bakugan (game). * The ball-shaped toys used in Bakugan (1). In the Bakugan universe, they are also monsters from Vestroia. See Bakugan. ; : A group of Bakugan players, composed of Dan, Runo, Marucho, Julie, Shun and Alice. ; : Cards where the Bakugan (2) battle. ; : An alternate dimension where the Bakugan (2) originally lived. ; Battler and brawler : Generic terms which generally mean Bakugan (1) players. References External links * * (Japanese) * [http://www.bakugan.com Bakugan] official website * [http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/anime/bakugan/ TV Tokyo's Bakugan Battle Brawlers website] * [http://www.tms-e.com/tv_movie/bakugan/ TMS Entertainment's Bakugan Battle Brawlers website] * * Sega Toys press release * Bakugan.wiz * Bakugan Price Guide and Lists ; Fan sites * http://vestroia.com/portal.php Category:Bakugan Battle Brawlers